oard the gondola. At this
moment, my Lord, by way of pretext, declares, that if it should strike
one o'clock before every thing was in order (his arms being the only
thing not yet quite ready), he would not go that day. The hour strikes,
and he remains!"[63]

The writer adds, "it is evident he has not the heart to go;" and the
result proved that she had not judged him wrongly. The very next day's
tidings from Ravenna decided his fate, and he himself, in a letter to
the Contessa, thus announces the triumph which she had achieved. "F * *
* will already have told you, _with her accustomed sublimity_, that Love
has gained the victory. I could not summon up resolution enough to leave
the country where you are, without, at least, once more seeing you. On
_yourself_, perhaps, it will depend, whether I ever again shall leave
you. Of the rest we shall speak when we meet. You ought, by this time,
to know which is most conducive to your welfare, my presence or my
absence. For myself, I am a citizen of the world--all countries are
alike to me. You have ever been, since our first acquaintance, _the sole
object of my thoughts_. My opinion was, that the best course I could
adopt, both for your peace and that of all your family, would have been
to depart and go far, _far_ away from you;--since to have been near and
not approach you would have been, for me, impossible. You have however
decided that I am to return to Ravenna. I shall accordingly return--and
shall _do_--and _be_ all that you wish. I cannot say more.[64]

On quitting Venice he took leave of Mr. Hoppner in a short but cordial
letter, which I cannot better introduce than by prefixing to it the few
words of comment with which this excellent friend of the noble poet has
himself accompanied it:--"I need not say with what painful feeling I
witnessed the departure of a person who, from the first day of our
acquaintance, had treated me with unvaried kindness, reposing a
confidence in me which it was beyond the power of my utmost efforts to
deserve; admitting me to an intimacy which I had no right to claim, and
listening with patience, and the greatest good temper, to the
remonstrances I ventured to make upon his conduct."

[Footnote 61: "Tu sei, e sarai sempre mio primo pensier. Ma in questo
momento sono in un' stato orribile non sapendo cosa decidere;--temendo,
da una parte, comprometterti in eterno col mio ritorno a Ravenna, e
colle sue consequenze; e, dal' altra perderti, e m